It seems like my AC is not blowing as cold as it should. I'll set it to 67 and while the air blows cold, it seems it should be colder.

Anyone ever get this done? If so, what can I expect $$ wise?

I have a 2004 TL, that I've owned since 2007. As far as I know, the AC has never been recharged.

 

What if you set the temp lower? Colder? Set max cold, recirculate, and see what the temp is coming out the center duct.
The sytem is sealed, meaning that if the refrigerant is low, there is a leak as no periodic charge is necessary. Shouldn't cost too much to have someone hook up gauges and check it out.

 

all systems leak over time, if there is no obvious leak, they should place the system on a vaccum to draw out all the old refigerant and oil and then recharge to the proper level.

 

have the parts store hook up their loaner AC guages and see whats happening
If a few psi low on freon- buy a $8 can and add it as needed

Using the guages or a can with a guage, add a small amount and check output
Have a pro do this if you are not trained- easy to overfill and blow up the system- no kidding

Use the AC in the winter by defroster or ac use 10 minutes per month- at least,, that keeps rubber seals lubricated with the oil in the freon
Use the heater in the summer- coolant flow preserves its seals too

note on getting system drained and refilled- shops charge $60 per pound for freon (store can $8) and it takes near 3 iirc. Plus 2 hours labor and they must use a special EPA required machine-

 

if you have a real leak from a rubber seal gone bad- then you do need to have it vac'd and refilled after seal replacement

If its just a touch low- refill it and keep driving

 

I just hooked up the AC machine to my car yesterday to check on the pressures cause i found my ac cycling alot, and it was actually missing half a pound of R134a. I evaced the system, put it in a vacuum(to remove any moisture in the system) and recharged it. Now my ac gets cold REALLY fast. And i have a 2004. so its been 5 years and .5 pounds lost. That seems pretty reasonable for a R134a system.

 

wow thats doing it all the way!
Few even know what AC guages are!!

Moisture getting in and killing the receiver-dryer only occurs if the system is left empty with an open line.

shops in the States charge about $300 for what you did- they have to replace all the freon when you vac it out/down, so thats 3 lbs not .5

half pound (can is 1 lb) is no big deal to just top off for the DIYer and its good.

 

Sorry, but if they are low, there is a leak as the system is designed to be maintainance free. It may be minimal, but it's still not normal.

Let me clatify that on the R12 to R134 conversion, that gas will leak through the R12 hoses because of different molecular composition, but the factory 134 systems have special hoses to contain the gas.

 

no, ALL A/C systems leak over time especially ones in cars due to the fact that they have rubber seals and hoses. Even systems that have 100% hardlines (like a window A/C unit, will leak over time from the seals on the compressor.... this is unavoidable and there is nothing you can do about it except for adding refrigerant as needed......and replace the seals when the leak becomes excessive...

the reason you notice it faster on a r134a system is that those systems are very sensative to the charge level. R12 has a SIGNIFICANTLY HIGHER reserve cooling capacity compared to r134a....... r12 can be down 50% charge and still have sufficient cooling capacity............

 

Believe me, they are not designed to leak refrigerant. If that were the case every car on the road would need a charge at one time or another. Similar to the sealed systems in refrigerators and home units, no charge should ever be necessary, unless something is wrong. Only cars I've needed to charge were the units that encountered a problem, leaking evap, bad compressor, etc.
I've got a 22 year old car in the garage that has never had a charge, works perfectly, cold as when it was new.

 

I bet you run the AC to keep the seals conditioned too-

 

Thanks for all the feeback! Dumb question: Where should I check for leaks? Under the car, engine compartment?

 

When refrigerant leaks along with a minimal amount of oil, it's very difficult to see as it certainly isn't like motor oil that seeps out and is very visible. I use an electronic leak detector, some use a dye, but if inside the HVAC system you won't see the dye. You can also use soap detergent and a water mix, but difficult to find a small leak.

 

In my opinion, the only correct way to service an A/C system is to do what Hata_61 did-- connect it to an A/C recovery machine, evacuate the system, then recharge with the correct amount.

Anything else is a half-ass job. As for leak detection, you can either use a freon on sniffer or use the oil inject option on the machine and add a dye, then use a black light to check.

 

Just wanted to add that if the system is low, then an evac and recharge won't correct the failing part, it will only bring the system up to capacity, blow ice cold air until it leaks down again, a waste of time. Always best to determine the leak, recover, repair, then evac and recharge.

 

well most systems will lose a bit,its pretty common. just make sure you inject some dye into the system when you are recharging it.and if it does develope major leak it can be seen with the light+yellow glasses. And be sure to use the right oil too!But for most people that dont have access to AC equipment, they should have this done at a shop/dealer. Not something you want to DIY if you dont know what you are doing.